Metro area · Iowa

Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro: mortgages and home buyers

2025 home-purchase and refinance statistics for the 3-county Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA area (OMB code 47940), from official HMDA records.

In 2025, lenders reported 1,728 home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family homes in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, IA metro area. The median buyer borrowed $185,000 on a home valued at $225,000 and reported a household income of $81,000.

Buyers financed a median 95% of the home's value (roughly 5% down), paid a median 6.375% on 30-year fixed conventional loans and faced median conventional loan costs of $1,950.

Lenders denied 3.8% of completed home-purchase applications.

Purchase loans

1,728

3 counties

Buyer income

$81,000

U.S. $116,000

Loan amount

$185,000

U.S. $335,000

Down payment

U.S. 10%

30-yr fixed rate

6.375%

U.S. 6.625%

Denial rate

3.8%

Purchase · U.S. 8.5%

Key facts

Home buyers' median income ($81,000) is 30% lower than the U.S. median ($116,000).
The median 30-year fixed conventional rate here was 25 basis points below the U.S. median (6.625%).
Median conventional loan costs ($1,950) were 65% lower than the U.S. median ($5,570).
FHA loans made up 5.1% of purchase mortgages, versus 21.1% nationally.
10.0% of first-lien purchase mortgages were for investment properties.
The most common age bracket among borrowers was 25–34 (32.6% of purchase loans).
55.8% of purchase mortgages had a single borrower with no co-applicant.
The most-cited reason for denial was debt-to-income ratio (33.8% of denials with a stated reason).

Counties in the metro area

County	Purchase loans	Median loan	Buyer income	30-yr rate	Loan costs	Conforming limit	FHA limit
Black Hawk County, IA	1,306	$175,000	$80,000	6.375%	$1,940	$832,750	$541,287
Bremer County, IA	270	$185,000	$84,000	6.375%	$1,960	$832,750	$541,287
Grundy County, IA	152	$185,000	$88,000	6.375%	$2,060	$832,750	$541,287

Who bought homes in Waterloo

Home-purchase mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family (1–4 unit) site-built homes, first liens, originated in 2025.

Purchase loans

1,728

of 1,840 applications

Buyer income

$81,000

Middle half $56,000–$122,000

Home value

$225,000

Middle half $165,000–$315,000

Loan amount

$185,000

Middle half $125,000–$255,000

Down payment

34.1% put 20%+ down

Single borrower

55.8%

No co-applicant

Values are medians; "middle half" is the 25th to 75th percentile.

Loan type

Conventional 89.3% 1,543

FHA 5.1% 88

VA 5.2% 89

USDA 0.5% 8

What the homes were for

Primary residence 89.3% 1,749

Second home 0.7% 14

Investment property 10.0% 196

All first-lien, closed-end purchase mortgages, including second homes and investors.

Borrower age

Under 25 17.2%

25–34 32.6%

35–44 24.3%

45–54 11.8%

55–64 7.1%

65–74 5.3%

75 and over 1.7%

Debt-to-income ratio

Under 20% 4.5%

20–29% 17.5%

30–35% 19.6%

36–42% 28.5%

43–49% 25.3%

50–60% 4.0%

Over 60% 0.6%

Monthly debts (including the new payment) as a share of income, as used in underwriting.

What borrowing cost in Waterloo

Medians for 2025 home-purchase loans. Total loan costs are section D of the Loan Estimate/Closing Disclosure (lender and third-party loan charges, excluding taxes, prepaids and escrow). FHA and VA costs include the upfront mortgage insurance premium or VA funding fee, so compare like with like.

Measure	Waterloo	U.S.
30-year fixed rate · conventional	6.375%	6.625%
30-year fixed rate · FHA	6.375%	6.250%
30-year fixed rate · VA	6.250%	6.125%
15-year fixed rate · conventional	5.750%	5.875%
Rate spread vs. APOR · conventional	−0.11 pts	+0.13 pts
Total loan costs · conventional	$1,950	$5,570
Total loan costs · FHA	$6,430	$11,310
Total loan costs · VA	$2,760	$6,490
Origination charges (all loan types)	$600	$1,860
Borrowers paying discount points	13.1%	51.3%
Points paid, when paid (% of loan)	0.48%	0.87%
Borrowers receiving lender credits	46.0%	33.1%
Adjustable-rate mortgages	28.5%	7.4%
Jumbo loans (above conforming limit)	0.1%	3.8%

Medians are shown only when at least 30 loans report the field. Rates are those reported at closing; market rates changed during 2025, which the rate spread (APR minus the average prime offer rate on the lock date) adjusts for.

Approvals and denials

Waterloo: 69 of 1,840 completed home-purchase applications were denied (3.8%).

Denial rate

Application	Waterloo	U.S.
Home purchase	3.8%	8.5%
Conventional	3.2%	7.1%
FHA	7.2%	12.5%
VA	6.3%	8.0%
USDA	—	12.5%
Refinance	13.8%	17.9%
Cash-out refinance	28.1%	33.6%

Main reason for purchase denials

Debt-to-income ratio 33.8%

Credit history 21.5%

Collateral (appraisal/property) 13.8%

Credit application incomplete 12.3%

Unverifiable information 7.7%

Other 6.2%

Employment history 3.1%

Insufficient cash (down payment/closing costs) 1.5%

First reason the lender reported.

Denial rate = denied ÷ (originated + approved but not accepted + denied). Withdrawn and incomplete applications are excluded. Differences between places reflect who applies, not only lender behavior.

Refinancing in Waterloo

Refinances

336

Median loan $205,000

Refi rate

6.375%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Refi loan costs

$1,770

Conventional

Cash-out refis

258

Median loan $155,000

Cash-out rate

6.625%

30-yr fixed, conv.

Cash-out income

$79,000

Median borrower

Source: FFIEC/CFPB HMDA 2025 public LAR (derived MSA/MD); OMB July 2023 delineations via the U.S. Census Bureau. Methodology